Nobody's Child: A Tragedy, a Trial, and a History of the Insanity Defense

A powerful and humane exploration of the history of the "insanity defense," through the story of one poignant case.



When a three-year-old child was found with a head wound and other injuries, it looked like an open-and-shut case of second-degree murder. Psychologist and attorney Susan Vinocour agreed to evaluate the defendant, the child's mentally ill and impoverished grandmother, to determine whether she was competent to stand trial. Even if she had caused the child's death, had she realize...